There's another factor here that accrues directly to the manufacturer, however--marketing.

You almost have to stipulate that consumers are lazy and clueless and will always look for a deal regardless that the much ballyhooed idea of "affordable" shoes or "affordable" kilts is near-as-nevermind a hoax. Maybe even a deliberate deception insofar as the "hidden" price is not paid by the consumer, or mentioned by the manufacturer.

But marketing is as much responsible for a clueless customer as any other factor. Marketing very nearly takes the place of education in our society.

If a shoe company decides to reduce the cost of production--cut corners or institute expediencies in technique and materials--and then advertises worldwide that they manufacture the finest quality shoes in Britain...many will buy into that hype.

Eventually the consumer...as we see in the responses to idea of paying more than $100.00 for a pair of shoes indicates....becomes unwilling to even consider that there is an alternative. One that might even be cheaper in the long run and all factors considered.

And when confronted with something resembling an education in the various aspects of production and/or quality, the consumer feels threatened or simply doesn't know how to begin to understand.

Big PR firms have a captive audience for this kind of hype. People in general have short attention spans, prefer Twitter to writing a letter or phoning to speak to someone directly...simply because doing so takes too much time. Again the "factory mentality."

So it's "Buy these--they are good, and good for you, and you don't have to work very hard or very long to afford them."

And when you come right down to it all advertising is hype to one degree or another.

And all hype is deception--it's very nearly the definition.